New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-07-27
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ORR MINERAL WEALTH.

The report on the production Of. the country In
minerals, though in advance OF the official publ
cation by the Geological Bureau, Is In many par
ticulars far behind the admirable statements pre-
pared by commercial bodies. Nevertheless IL Is OF
interest and value to have an official account OF
this important part Of the Nations wealth pro-
duction. The statement shows on Increase In the
aggregate value Of products from s42s,Ooo,ooo In
1885 to s465, 900, 900 In 1888. gain OF ABOUT v
per cent Remembering that the increase reported
in some important branches was far greater, it
will be readily inferred that public attention was
especially called to the forms Of production in
which there was great gain, but not to the IN
dustries In which there losses or no gains
Thus IL appears that while the increase in iron
production was over 40 per cent. there was de-
crease in the value OF silver produced, decrease
both In quantity of copper and in value, and
decrease In quantity with but slight increase In
value OF quicksilver. The aggregate production,
including metals, coal coke and oil and natural
gas, amounting to s465, 900, 900 in year, should
be compared with the value OF some or the I'M
portant farm crops thus 1t Is not much more
than the value OF large wheat crop ana less
than the usual crop OF corn, hay or meats IN
value. The relative importance OF the mineral
products is largely due TO their necessity as ma
terials OF the great industries, and to the large
increase In value resulting from the processes Of
those industries.
The precious metals, commonly so-called, are
less precious 10 the United States, it appears
than the coal taken from its mines or than the
iron made in its furnaces. The value OF gold
and silver produced was but $50, 900, and the
figures for silver are evidently at the coinage
rate, which virtually adds nearly one-third to
the actual market value OF the bullion produced
Against these figures we have n value OF
Sl47, 900, 900 in coal produced from the mines'
OF which nearly half was the value OF anthracite
coal alone. In the aggregate the production OF
coal 107,6s2,209 tons, showed an increase OF
1,7s5, ssl tons over the previous year, or less
than . per cent. while the value was $44l9,42o
less than in 1885, indicating an important de-
crease in the average price per ton. IL Is ncces-
sary TO remember, however, that a marked i'm
provcmcnt in this market occurred toward the
end OF the year 1886 and has since continued,
so that the value OF coal produced during the
past six months has probably been much greater
than during either half OF the years 1886 or 1885,
The largest item In the statement OF mineral
products, next TO coal, is also the one in which
the most important increase appears. The sta
tistics given by the Geological Bureau agree pre-
cisely with those OF the Iron and Steel Associa-
ton as 10 tonnage OF iron produced, and IL Is
stated that the average advance in price was
about 20 cents per ton, making the increase In
value OF iron produced no less than $50, 1885,
out OF about s37. 000,0 900 increase in all mineral
products. In connection with this statement 1t
is important TO understand that the enormous
increase In imports OF manu- featured iron since the
close OF the year 1886 has resulted in important
decrease In the consumption OF iron from our own
mines. A statement prepared from official records
OF the Iron and Steel Association and OF the
Treasury Department shows a decrease OF 2OO,OOo
tons in domestic iron consumed In the first ha1
of 1887 compared with the last half OF 1885,
but against this there appears an increase OF
about $4,000 tons In pig Iron imported, an m
crease OF about 1874, 900 tons in scrap Iron and
steel imported and an increase OF $4,000 tons
In manufactured iron and steel OF various kinds.
The statistics which show q remarkable gain in
the iron industry during the year 1886, there
fore, need 10 be read in the light OF the figures
which prove that unwise or defective admins
tration Of the laws threatens that great and
prosperous industry with serious disaster.
| In the production Of copper an important de-
crease appears both in quantity and value, and
nevertheless the price is at present not higher
than the average for the year 1886. An In
crease Of 1900 tons In the, production of lead,
valued at about s2,200,000, is especially import
ant with respect TO its bearing upon the value OF
paints and cost Of building. One other item In
the report is Of especial interest, namely the
statement that natural gas displaced In the year
1886 no less than 6,353,000 tons Of coal, valued
Mt s0.s47,lb0, a fact which goes far TO explain
the comparatively small increase in production
Of coal contrastcd with the far greater increase
in production of IRON.